posted on October 15, 2001 12:05:36 PM
Oh, happy day! Tuesday is garbage pick-up in our area, and already this morning I picked up a large old window with beautiful green paint, and my sister got a viola (or a cello?, one step smaller than a bass violin) and a really nice guitar! And we usually find the very best pieces Monday night or Tuesday morning, though the competition for "garbage" around here is really tough - if you have to turn around for ease in loading, you'll probably be too late - we were too late to get a motorcycle and four whisky barrel flower pots! Spring and fall always seem to be the best times, when people clean out by throwing everything away -
posted on October 15, 2001 02:09:11 PM
when I lived in S Calif I used to set up at a Swap meet on sundays and there were a couple of guys who would show up once a month with a truck load of good stuff cheap
Got to know them and it turned out they would cruise the alleys of newport beach every day after work and this was all stuff pulled from the trash
About 2 pm they would just get in their truck and leave , and what they hadn't sold was free for the taking
posted on October 16, 2001 12:45:50 AM
My mom used to go straight to the city dump for pickins. They had a special section set up for people who came to shop. It looked like the worst part of Tijuana. Old pots and pans, piles of dirty clothes and linens, broken furniture. But every once in a while, she would stumble on some rare antique (or so she said) and snatch it up before any of the other dump rumagers saw it. That would just make her day.
posted on October 16, 2001 07:04:35 AM
We're not brave enough to go to the dump, but it sounds like fun! There are a lot of old farms around here, so you really do find antiques set out for the trash sometimes, and even the better part of whole estates, the relatives from town come in and throw so much away - we've gotten handmade rugs and lots of really nice yard pieces like birdbaths, and a small windmill. We keep almost all of it, though I guess a lot of the garbage pickers pick to sell - we sometimes see them come in and take everything left over at estate auctions, no matter what it is!
posted on October 16, 2001 07:06:38 AM
WA state in its infinite wisdom has made retrieving things from dumps illegal. You gotta wonder about people who actually took the time to make this a law.
posted on October 16, 2001 08:45:24 AM
WAS THAT GOLDENWEST OR CYPRESS COLLEGE ???? SURE L@@KED LIKE NEWPORT BEACH JUNK TO ME. HAHAHAHAH. (THEY THROW AWAY EXPENSIVE JUNQUE). DUMPSTER DIVERS ARE FOREVER. SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT WASHINGTON. BUT YA CAN'T DO IT AROUND HERE IN S. CAL. EITHER. YEARS AGO I DROVE A DROP OFF BOX COMMERCIAL WASTE TRUCK. WOW!!!!!! THE STUFF AT THE DUMPS WAS INCREDIBLE! BUT OF COURSE NOW IT IS ALL HAND PICKED AND RECYCLED. HAHAHAHA, ONE COMPANY WAS CROWN ZELLERBACH, THE TOILET PAPER PEOPLE. IF A ROLL WAS 1/10 OF AN OUNCE OFF.........TRASH. I HAD PAPER FOR FRIENDS AND MYSELF FOR TEN YEARS!!!!!!! HAHAHAHA. HOW WASTEFUL THEY WERE. EARLY 70'S. C-YA.
posted on October 16, 2001 12:38:30 PM
Yep, the good old 70's. If you can fathom this, the dump would also get packaged food from manufacturers or warehouses. I remember seeing cases upon cases of Abba Zabba Bars and frozen pies. This of course, was for the more adventurous dump diver.
posted on October 16, 2001 09:42:11 PM
Same thing in Ontario - can't dumpster dive at the municipal dump!
I have been to the local dump maybe 6 times in the last 2 years taking REAL junk and garden waste and I have seen an old rocker with caned seat get tossed, a 1920s wicker parambulator, a metal painted document box, a pile of hatboxes with hats, and a 1920s enamelware stove get tossed into skiffs at different times - and these are only 10 minute random visits! I practically cry to think what gets tossed!!!!!
Meanwhile, the crap that people put out in their garage sales here...and the junky local antique dealers with more than ebay prices makes you wonder...
One of my regular consignment clients used to work at the local dump 10 years ago, and he did it just so he could skim the good stuff. He got his downpayment for his house togehter from salvaging WW2 medals and uniforms, sterling silver dresser sets and antique bottles and crocks from the piles!
